Shadows Over Equestria
by DayDreamer95
Summary: Evils from a time long forgotten arise again to take revenge. An artifact, thought to be lost forever, must be prevented from being whole once more, for it determines the fate of Equestria... (Rated T for scenes of graphic violence.)


**PLEASE READ!** Hey, it's been a while! I know I haven't been writing much recently, but I've started to college and all, so... yeah. ^^; Anyway, this is another story that my boyfriend **MasterOfYourFate** (give him some credit, this wouldn't have been possible without him!) and I have come up with. Now, this is kind of like a movie trailer except in written format; we're looking to see if people are **interested** in this kind of story. That means **we need feedback!** Favorite it, follow it, but most of all REVIEW! Reviews are the most valuable kind of feedback that any author can receive. So if you like it and you want to see more, review! If you think the idea could use a little work, tell us in a review! It doesn't matter, positive or negative, just do it!

* * *

_**Prologue**_

_Ten centuries ago, the Princess of the Night, neglected by the subjects she so faithfully served each night, gave into the darkness within her heart. Consumed by anger, sadness, and jealousy, the younger sister came to deeply resent her elder. She began to seek out the one thing that would quell the dark fire growing in her heart: power. The very thing she sought was hidden away inside a vault, a secret vault protected by eight gifted warriors selected by Celestia herself for their potent magical ability. These warriors, known as the Guardians of Magic, were solely responsible for the safekeeping of the many magical artifacts stored within the vault. For many years, they performed their duty well; nothing nor nopony ever approached the vault, and whatever did have the audacity to come was efficiently deterred from entering._

_ However, Princess Luna was far cleverer than any foe they had ever faced before. She deceived the Guardians, fooling them all into believing that she was innocent even while her purity was slowly devoured by shadows. She even seduced one of the stallions, dragging him down into the darkness with her. When the time came to take what was rightfully hers, it was a simple matter. She lured them out into the forest, leaving them to fall victim to a flock of cockatrices while she went into the vault unimpeded. There, she found the object of all her desires . . . the Orb of Stars._

_ She drew the artifact's power into herself at once, feeling an immediate change. She suddenly felt so much stronger, far stronger than her sister! The overwhelming power engulfed her, and elicited a change within the lunar princess. The last of her goodness was slipping away as she began plotting to overthrow her sister and become the sole ruler of Equestria; her appearance was turning to something darker, something more fitting of her now black heart. The transformation was sudden and explosive. The sky lit up with lightning, and a crack of thunder resounded alongside the sound of a sinister laugh as the Princess of the Night became the evil mare that would come to be known as Nightmare Moon._

_ The sole surviving Guardian of Magic confronted her soon after. The encounter was brief, and the valiant warrior was sealed into a crystal to afterwards be thrown deep into the heart of a mountain, left to slumber there for eternity. Once what she considered to be a minor nuisance was dealt with, Nightmare Moon reached towards the moon with her magic. The celestial body had not been lowered as of yet to make way for the elder Princess's day, and now it would remain forever in the sky so that the lunar princess's night could be loved eternally. The dark alicorn's magic breached the moon's surface, awakening the shadows that slept there. The entities of darkness were awoken and brought to Equestria to bring forth death and destruction to all those that would oppose the beautiful, eternal night. _

_ Fortunately, the radiant Princess of the Sun arrived then to thwart the Corrupted Princess's scheme. The two princesses dueled to decide the fate of Equestria. Light versus shadow, good versus evil . . . the princesses were equally matched, opposite forces that struggled for dominance. Nevertheless, it was the rage of the darkness that threatened to extinguish hope's light. The elder princess was forced to wield the powers of creation in their purest form: the Elements of Harmony. Using the Elements, the elder alicorn was able to seal her sister in the moon itself. As for the shadowy beasts that had been unleashed, the solar princess used the residual magic Nightmare Moon left behind in order to permanently banish them to the moon alongside their self-proclaimed mistress of the night. That magic then formed itself into an artifact that would be capable of either keeping the Night Beasts trapped, or setting them free once more. This artifact was christened the "Moon Stone."_

_ It was not long before Princess Celestia decided that it was best to keep the power that this artifact held out of the hooves of anypony that could misuse it. She split the Moon Stone into three pieces, each of which were taken to the furthest corners of Equestria. It is said that the fragments of the Moon Stone still exist to this day, protected by specially trained guards as well as advanced protection spells. However, it is also said that the Moon Stone has been completely destroyed and that nothing remains of it._

o~*~o

The older unicorn stallion sighed as he gazed down upon the pages of the storybook that sat on the table before him. After a few moments of contemplation, he grasped the book within a dull red aura of magic and returned it to the bookshelf before he turned his dull red gaze towards the window. It was nighttime, and he could see his reflection in the glass, pale like a ghost against the dark background of the sky outside with his white coat and silver hair. When he raised his eyes just slightly, he saw the bright white circle of the full moon above. He could recall when he could see the Mare in the Moon, staring back at him each time he would look upon it. He, of course, knew that Nightmare Moon had been freed at one point, only to be defeated. Now Nightmare Moon was no more. Now the surface of the moon was unmarred by her visage. But was there something unseen, something that lurked about, waiting for the right time?

_If the legends are true,_ the stallion thought, _then are _they_ still out there? The Night Beasts? Are they still trapped on the moon?_

"Can't help but wonder . . ." he muttered to himself as he stared up at the moon, pondering something seemingly so peaceful and yet possibly so dangerous.

Meanwhile, far beneath the old unicorn's hooves, there was a shrine dedicated to the fallen Guardians of Magic, a memorial of sorts for the brave warriors. This shrine had long since been forgotten by the residents of the village above, and so it had fallen to ruin. And yet, there were still signs of life if one were to look closely. Standing still like a statue, the dark-coated ponies were virtually invisible in the darkness of the underground; these Royal Night Guards had been trained specifically to guard this place, for something very valuable and very dangerous was kept here. They were ideal for the task; the peculiar breed of pony with gleaming yellow eyes and bat-like wings was suited to the dim environment, not to mention that they were alert and attentive at all times with their keen senses.

The two guards closest to the entrance of the shrine immediately picked up on the presence of an intruder approaching, and charged their horns with magic in preparation for a confrontation. A sudden coldness in the air sent shivers down their spines and saturated the atmosphere with tension as the guards now knew that something was off. The intruder's presence seemed to grow as it drew nearer, emanating an aura of malevolent magic that assaulted the guards' senses like a shockwave.

When the intruder finally came into view, all that the guards saw was a black figure, darker than the very shadows around them. Its form looked like that of a pony, yet it was much more imposing than a regular pony, with both its powerful aura and its great stature; it was taller than Princess Celestia herself. Its eyes glowed crimson, piercing the darkness and the souls of anyone that had the misfortune of gazing into them. It walked slowly, deliberately, and each of its steps was as silent as death itself—a difficult feat for a pony or any pony-like creature.

The guards did not hesitate to begin firing at the intruder with bolts of stun magic. The intruder created a magic shield around itself without even an aura of magic to indicate the use of such, absorbing the energy from the guards' attacks. A tendril of darkness slithered from the intruder's shadowy form, lunging at and coiling itself around one of the guards. The guard struggled within its grasp, to no avail. The tendril began to strangle the guard, but only for a few moments. Before the guard could lose consciousness from lack of oxygen, the tendril began to feed on his very essence. He started to scream in agony, but his voice was quickly lost as he began to slowly dissolve. There was nothing left after the intruder had fed from him; no flesh, no blood, not even bones to indicate that the unfortunate guard had ever existed. All that remained was the armor that he had been wearing, which clattered to the floor, rendered useless.

The guard that had been standing adjacent to the guard that was now no more was horrified by what he had witnessed, but he knew he had to fight regardless. He crafted a spear from his magic, and charged at the intruder with a yell. Yet as he moved to stab the intruder, his spear simply passed through the intruder's body, as if he were trying to pierce the darkness around him instead. The intruder vanished after that, hiding among the shadows.

The stallion looked around carefully, his bright yellow eyes gleaming in the darkness as he searched for any sign of the intruder. But although he was as attentive as ever, he was caught by surprise as the intruder reappeared directly behind him, grabbing him in a firm hold. There was no chance for the guard to escape as a blade of crimson magic materialized before him. He writhed and tried to break free, but that only made it easier for the intruder. As the guard's head turned at a particular angle, exposing the vulnerable arteries just beneath the skin, the blade quickly moved to sever them with one swift slash. The scream that had attempted to escape the pony's throat emerged as a strange garbled noise as blood spurted from the wound across his neck and ultimately suffocated him. His body was dropped carelessly on the ground as the intruder continued on to take care of the rest of the guards.

Three guards remained. Two of them combined their efforts to stop the merciless creature, using their magic together. They brought their horns together, focusing their magic through each other. An aura of magic enveloped the both of them, growing brighter and brighter until they released the powerful attack spell at the intruder. The intruder leaped to the left to avoid the attack; the blast hit a wall instead, leaving a hole only somewhat smaller than the intruder itself. The intruder then vanished once more, leaving the two guards on edge with their senses tuned to anything and everything that could have possibly been the intruder.

One of the guards walked forward a few steps, scanning the area intently. Suddenly, he heard the sounds of a struggle, at which he turned around. His eyes widened when he saw another guard, the only mare in the group, stabbing his other fellow guard in the chest with her sword of magic. He had no time to react any further before the mare appeared in front of him, raising her sword to strike. He looked into her eyes, and his last thought was of how unnatural they were; the typically yellow eyes were glowing crimson, and they pierced his very soul . . . And then his head was separated from his body, taken off by one deliberate swing of the mare's blade.

Once the deed was done, the intruder let the mare regain control of her body. She was weakened by the ordeal, and seemed as if she had been frozen from the inside out; her skin was tinted blue, and her entire body shivered as she collapsed to the floor. The intruder resumed its path to what was held within the shrine, passing by the fallen mare on its way. The mare raised her head with what remained of her strength, glaring at the creature. Her eyes were nearly closed for her diminishing ability to keep them open, and yet they still seemed somewhat threatening with their slits for pupils.

"You . . ." she wheezed. "T-The princesses will stop you . . ."

The intruder turned its head towards the mare, staring into her soul with those blood-red eyes. "The reign of the princesses has come to an end," it said. Its voice was deep and haunting, the kind of voice that unsettled anyone who heard it. "Equestria shall come to see the beauty of eternal darkness . . ."

It was an easy matter for the creature to retrieve what he had sought. He left the shrine, walking through the village resting above the forgotten place. He did not flinch, nor did he look back as creatures of darkness descended upon the village, wrecking the homes of those who lived there and taking the lives of all those that tried to flee. The innocent ponies screamed; screamed in terror, screamed in pain, screamed for help. The creature, still never looking back, said to seemingly no one in particular:

"Can you hear the screams?"

Only then did Celestia wake from the nightmare, the ponies' screams and the monster's voice ringing in her ears. It took several moments to calm herself and collect her thoughts; after all, not even a princess is immune to the fear that a nightmare could instill within one's heart. She recalls images of the nightmare easily—it all seemed so vivid . . . Could it be that it was not only a nightmare, but a premonition? The white alicorn sighed softly to herself as she got up from her bed and walked out to the balcony.

She gazed at the landscape laid out before her. The night was slowly dying, and warm shades of pink and orange reached above the horizon as the sun waited for its mistress to help bring forth a new day. As the princess's horn glowed with golden magic and the sun slowly started to rise, she looked up to the fading stars. For a moment, she could see shadows, swirling and flickering among the stars, before they vanished in the sun's approaching light.


End file.
